Running on Solar Power

A Rider's day normally starts with sunshine. Without it, I feel weak and without the urge to go out. Luckily, I have a decent profession that anyone can easily practice at home. As Principal Architect and design partner to my wife Elaine, who is a registered Interior Designer, I have some minute abilities to be flexible, multi-task, juggle some sketches and change diapers at any given time.


Before being a father, I used to ride anywhere, anytime, any way. Alone, even without good weather forecasts, I'd hop on the CBR, and throttle all the way to Tagaytay, Batangas, Bataan and Quezon just to eat bulalo or sinigang, and then go home. On smaller motorbikes, I've survived Pagudpud, Matnog, Baler and even Sagada through rocky roads impassable by cars. With a lot of excess energy before, I even managed to attend most, if not all, biker nights that would start late in the evening and would end almost in the morning - even during weekdays after working past office hours in Makati. For a couple of years, I was able to do it and even earned a club award for having the best attendance.

With so much time on hand, bicycling became such a treat as well. On group expeditions, we were able to pedal from Manila until Kennon Road (Baguio), to Tanay and back, Binangonan, Cavite and trail mountains like Maarat, Batulao and traverse San Mateo through Cogeo and Boso-boso regularly. I even biked solo to as far as Punta Fuego, and would frequent Cabading or Antipolo during Sundays and even sunny weekdays.

Still with free time to spare, my wife and I would run long-distance races and duathlons. We even tried a triathlon once to complete the all possible adventures under the sun.

But being a new father is a far more enduring adventure, I assume. Now 3 months old, my boy, named Isaiah Alonzo (Ice for short) is more than a bundle of joy. Although his complexion is not as fair as mine (yet), he is our sunshine. The bundle of newborn challenges forces me now to ride less but efficiently, and allows me to enjoy life's simple pleasures in a wider perspective - a lot brighter than how I used to envision it.